Level of Detail (LOD) Best Practices

Level of Detail (LOD) is important for rendering your asset across different platforms. Setting LODs also helps to improve performance for players since the LODs render according to a player's proximity to props.

Setting Up the LOD Transition Distances and Reduction Settings

Expand the LOD Settings section in the Details panel on the right side of the Static Mesh Editor.

LOD Group

The LOD Group dropdown provides a list of asset types and assigns default LOD settings based on your selection.

Recommended LOD groups for Fortnite Creative assets:

Setting the LODs

1. Select the Default option for the LOD Group if it is not already selected.

2. Make sure the Auto Compute LOD Distances is unchecked. Unchecking this option means you can input LOD transition distances manually.
   

3. Expand the LOD Picker section and choose LOD 1 from the LOD dropdown menu.
   

   

   1. Under Reduction Settings, ensure that Percent Triangles is at 50.

   2. Switch to LOD 2 from the LOD dropdown menu.

   3. Under Reduction Settings, ensure that Percent Triangles is at 25.

   4. Switch to LOD Auto from the LOD dropdown menu.
      

4. Under General Settings, make sure LOD for Collision is set to 2.
   

5. Click Save.
   

Screen Size Starting Values

The Screen Size value determines how much space on the screen your asset can occupy before the asset drops to a lower level of detail. As you move away from an asset, its screen size shrinks. In the above example, when the screen size of the chair hits 0.3, the prop drops from LOD 0 to LOD 1.

The Screen Size values given above work well for the DarkVillage Chair, but they are not necessarily the best values for your asset.

These tables list recommended starting values, but you can adjust as you see fit. Zoom in and out of the Static Mesh Editor viewport to test LOD transitions.

Configuring Platform Minimum LOD Settings for Your Static Mesh

1. Return to the LOD Settings section in the Details panel.

2. Scroll to Quality Level Min LOD.

3. Click the + next to Default.

4. Select Low from the menu and change the value to 2.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 to add inputs for the Medium and High quality levels.

6. Change the Medium value to 2 and the High value to 1. Your settings should look like this:
   

7. Click Save.

The Static Mesh is now covered in a checkerboard pattern.

The Quality Level Min LOD setting determines the minimum LOD your asset uses at each quality setting. Each of these levels corresponds to a different set of target platforms. These are the assigned values for the chair asset:

This means that on Mobile and Nintendo Switch, the minimum LOD for this asset is LOD 2, and on PC, PS4, and Xbox 1 the minimum LOD is 1.

The Epic quality level is intended for future use with high-end PCs, PS5, and Xbox Series X.